Later today, the rover's science team will tell us if something's in the air.

Back in 2009, some Earth-based observations found what could potentially cause a complete reworking of our understanding of Mars: seasonal plumes of methane billowing into the red planet's atmosphere. On Earth, methane is most frequently associated with either biological or geological activity, and we generally don't think Mars has much of either. But the Martian summers appeared to cause a large outpouring of the gas from a limited area on Mars. The gas was not present in the winter.

It's very difficult to account for a source of methane this large based on what we know of Mars. The environment there is extremely inhospitable to life, even during the Martian summer. And all our imaging of the surface indicates that major geological activity ended long ago, leaving the planet's surface to be shaped by a variety of weathering processes.

Later analyses have cast doubt on the original findings, but we should be able to get a definitive answer as to whether Mars has methane later today. That's because NASA will be announcing the results of atmospheric sampling performed by the Curiosity rover.

If the methane plumes were unexpected at the time, they have only become more so since. Follow-up observations have failed to detect anything, but a study of a meteorite indicated that it is possible to generate low levels of methane simply by exposing carbon-rich meteorites to UV light.

Meanwhile, other researchers have calculated that there are a few problems with the initial observations. For one, they estimate that the presence of the levels of methane seen in the earlier report would react with enough oxygen in the atmosphere to leave Mars' air oxygen-free within 10,000 years. They also suggest that Mars' orbital motion may have created a Doppler shift that made Martian methane difficult to distinguish from Earth's at the time when the positive signals were seen.

The simplest way around all this is to just go and sample Mars' atmosphere. Conveniently, the Curiosity rover has the equipment to do just that. According to Nature News, the rover's Tunable Laser Spectrometer is designed to sample the atmosphere and provide a detailed chemical inventory. This reading will be precise enough to identify the isotopes of carbon present in the gasses it detects, which may also help provide some hint about the source of any methane it detects.

We'll be listening in on the press call, so check in later today for any updates.

20 Reader Comments

Wait a sec, how the hell was that headline image taken? There is no arm in the shot that could be holding up the camera. Does Curiosity have a smartphone tucked away that can be whipped out, placed on a rock and used to snap duckface pics of itself?

Wait a sec, how the hell was that headline image taken? There is no arm in the shot that could be holding up the camera. Does Curiosity have a smartphone tucked away that can be whipped out, placed on a rock and used to snap duckface pics of itself?

Wait a sec, how the hell was that headline image taken? There is no arm in the shot that could be holding up the camera. Does Curiosity have a smartphone tucked away that can be whipped out, placed on a rock and used to snap duckface pics of itself?

Wouldn't it be cool if we found out that the methane was from shale rock formation natural fractures releasing gas to the atmosphere. Natural gas from decaying dinosaurs.

Not decaying dinosaurs, decaying martians. We started the possibility of biologic contamination back in 1971, when the Soviet Mars 2 probe face planted (or uncontrolled landing, you pick) there. Kind of a preemptive 'War of the Worlds".

Wouldn't it be cool if we found out that the methane was from shale rock formation natural fractures releasing gas to the atmosphere. Natural gas from decaying dinosaurs.

Not decaying dinosaurs, decaying martians. We started the possibility of biologic contamination back in 1971, when the Soviet Mars 2 probe face planted (or uncontrolled landing, you pick) there. Kind of a preemptive 'War of the Worlds".

So Martians are Russian? We should have sent up curiosity with a handle of vodka as a peace offering.

"The environment there is extremely inhospitable to life, even during the Martian summer."

Well, inhospitable to Earth life.

Which is the only life we know of. Therefore, it is inhospitable to life, until we find a kind to which it is not inhospitable (which is pretty unlikely, the conditions aren't good for even the theoretical kinds).

The simplest way around all this is to just go and sample Mars' atmosphere. Conveniently, the Curiosity rover has the equipment to do just that. According to Nature News, the rover's Tunable Laser Spectrometer is designed to sample the atmosphere and provide a detailed chemical inventory. This reading will be precise enough to identify the isotopes of carbon present in the gasses it detects, which may also help provide some hint about the source of any methane it detects.

I don't see anything in the article that this is a mission objective or that they will be trying to determine the source of martian methane (if it's really there), the article just says that it has the capability to do so.

Wait a sec, how the hell was that headline image taken? There is no arm in the shot that could be holding up the camera. Does Curiosity have a smartphone tucked away that can be whipped out, placed on a rock and used to snap duckface pics of itself?

I understand that it's a mosaic of several shots, with the arm rotating between them to give the impression of a wider FoV. But as far as I can see the full arm itself is in the shot (in the lower right corner of the rover).

This image should not be possible unless the camera was detached from the arm, as no frame of the mosaic could capture the tip of the arm taking the picture. To understand the logistics, try to take a picture of your entire right arm (fingers and all), using only a camera held in your right arm... mosaic photography will not make this task any easier.

Wait a sec, how the hell was that headline image taken? There is no arm in the shot that could be holding up the camera. Does Curiosity have a smartphone tucked away that can be whipped out, placed on a rock and used to snap duckface pics of itself?

I understand that it's a mosaic of several shots, with the arm rotating between them to give the impression of a wider FoV. But as far as I can see the full arm itself is in the shot (in the lower right corner of the rover).

This image should not be possible unless the camera was detached from the arm, as no frame of the mosaic could capture the tip of the arm taking the picture. To understand the logistics, try to take a picture of your entire right arm (fingers and all), using only a camera held in your right arm... mosaic photography will not make this task any easier.

So why would they want to fake a Curiosity photo? Are you suggesting this is another fake moon landing? Arent there a thousand better things for NASA to fake?

As a big time childhood fan of Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles", my first reaction to any of these atmospheric stories is "just tell me, can we plant trees there like they did in the book?" I'm always disappointed.

Wait a sec, how the hell was that headline image taken? There is no arm in the shot that could be holding up the camera. Does Curiosity have a smartphone tucked away that can be whipped out, placed on a rock and used to snap duckface pics of itself?

I understand that it's a mosaic of several shots, with the arm rotating between them to give the impression of a wider FoV. But as far as I can see the full arm itself is in the shot (in the lower right corner of the rover).

This image should not be possible unless the camera was detached from the arm, as no frame of the mosaic could capture the tip of the arm taking the picture. To understand the logistics, try to take a picture of your entire right arm (fingers and all), using only a camera held in your right arm... mosaic photography will not make this task any easier.

The individual frames used to make the montage can be viewed at http://curiositymsl.com (use the MAHLI filter to search).

Wait a sec, how the hell was that headline image taken? There is no arm in the shot that could be holding up the camera. Does Curiosity have a smartphone tucked away that can be whipped out, placed on a rock and used to snap duckface pics of itself?

I understand that it's a mosaic of several shots, with the arm rotating between them to give the impression of a wider FoV. But as far as I can see the full arm itself is in the shot (in the lower right corner of the rover).

This image should not be possible unless the camera was detached from the arm, as no frame of the mosaic could capture the tip of the arm taking the picture. To understand the logistics, try to take a picture of your entire right arm (fingers and all), using only a camera held in your right arm... mosaic photography will not make this task any easier.

Wait a sec, how the hell was that headline image taken? There is no arm in the shot that could be holding up the camera. Does Curiosity have a smartphone tucked away that can be whipped out, placed on a rock and used to snap duckface pics of itself?

The same way any tourist gets pictures taken: they hand the camera to a friendly native.